Priapeia

Priaepia

by divers poets in English verse and prose. Translated by Sir Richard Burton and Leonard C. Smithers

  1. And the Gods' Messenger shows proper feet;
  2. The Guard of Lemnos moves unequal steps;
  3. Ever untrimmed is Aesculapius' beard;
  4. None hath a broader breast than bully Mars;
  5. But, an Priapus' rank 'mid these remain,
  6. There be no better-membered deity.
  1. Why on memorial tablet do they limn
  2. (You ask) the member which begets us all?
  3. Whenas by accident my yard was hurt
  4. And I (unhappy!) feared the surgeon's hand
  5. To such legitimate almighty gods--
  6. Phoebus for instance take or Phoebus' son--
  7. I blushed to offer for a cure my cock
  8. And prayed--'Priapus, an thou heal the part,
  9. O Sire, whose very counterpart thou seem'st
  10. And without hacking make it whole again,
  11. One linmed on tablet shall to thee be given
  12. Like-sized, like-coloured and alike of shape.'
  13. The God to promise deigning wagged his yard,
  14. By way of nod divine, and did my bede.